Prevent other users in using a certain tag

[Momiji]

Hi Everyone,

I'm not sure if this possible. Let's say I have a tag [label] named 'Tag Ex'. Only specific groups are allowed to use this. Is it possible that when a user (that is not a member of the specific groups) tries to apply the said tag to an incident, an error will appear preventing the user to use the tag?

Thank you!

[Huynh Loc]

Hi @Momiji ,
Out of the box, ServiceNow does not support displaying an error when a user applies a specific tag if they are not part of an allowed group.

However, you can effectively restrict tag usage by controlling tag visibility:

Steps:

1. Navigate to System Definition → Tags
2. Open the tag “Tag Ex”
3. Set Viewable by to Groups and Users
4. Select the groups that are allowed to use the tag

Result:

• Users who are not members of the specified groups will not see “Tag Ex” in the tag picker
• Since the tag is not visible, they cannot apply it
• No error message is shown because the tag is simply unavailable

👉 This is the recommended best practice and requires no customization.

If this response was helpful, please consider marking it as Correct and Helpful. More than one reply can be marked as an accepted solution.

[Philippe Casidy]

Hi @Momiji ,

If you cannot control the access through the groups as per Huynh Loc's recommendation, you may add a before Business Rule on table label_entry to prevent inserting a record when

label_entry.label is 'Tag Ex'

and 

label_entry.table is 'incident'

and

current user is or is not...

then

setAbortAction(true)

Please let me know should you need more details.

Philippe

[Ankur Bawiskar]

@Momiji 

I don't think you should do this much level of customization to restrict adding tag based on users

💡 If my response helped, please mark it as correct ✅ and close the thread 🔒— this helps future readers find the solution faster! 🙏